56 OXALIDEJE. ^. iOxalidea. 



dicle superior. — Herbs, shrubs, or trees. Leaves usually pinnate or digitate, 

 with entire leaflets ; flowers in axillary umbels or panicles. 

 ■ An Order limited by most botanists to the two following genera. 



Herbs. Fruit capsular 1- Oxalis. 



Trees. Fruit succulent, indehiscent .3. Avekrhoa. 



1. OXALIS, Linn. 



Stamens all bearing anthers. Capsules opening at the angles in valves 

 which remain adhering to the axis. — Herbs or (in species not Chinese) under- 

 shrubs. Flowers iu simple or irregularly compound umbels. 



A large genus, chiefly American and African, with a very few Asiatic species, ■one of which 

 is dispersed over all but the colder regions of the globe. The Hongkong species have 3 digi- 

 tate leaflets. The 0. sensitiva, with pinnate leaves, common in S. Asia, has not yet been 

 found in S. China. 



Rhizome bulbous. Leaves and peduncles radical 1. 0. Martiana. 



Stem branching, decumbent, leafy. Peduncles axillary 2. 0. corniculata, 



1. O. Martiana, Zucc. Oxal. NacMr. 27 ; Sot. Mag. t. 3938. A stem- 

 less herb, with a compound bulbous rhizome, covered with brown 3-ribbed 

 scales. Leaves radical, slightly hairy ; the petioles 4 to 6 inches long. Leaf- 

 lets 3; digitate, broadly obovate-emarginate, 8 to 10 lines long. Peduncles 

 radical, rather longer than the petioles, bearing a single umbel, or more fre- 

 quently iiTegularly divided into 3 or 3 branches, each bearing 1 or 2 umbels 

 of pale-purpKsh flowers. Sepals obtuse, with 2 small glands at the tip, 3 

 to 2^ lines long. Petals glabrous, 8 or even 4 times as long. Stamens and 

 styles pubescent. — 0. corymhom, DC. Prod. i. 696 ? 



, A native of Southern Brazil, now established as an escape from gardens iu Hongkong, as 

 in the Mauritius and some other hot countries. 



2. O. corniculata, Unn.; DO. Prod. i. 692 ; Wight, Ic. t. 18. A de- 

 cumbent, prostrate or ascending, much-branched delicate perennial, or some- 

 times annual, more or less pubescent, of a pale green, from a few inches to a 

 foot long. Stipules small, adnate to the petiole. Leaves alternate ; the petioles 

 about' 1 in. long. Leaflets 3, digitate; broadly obcordate, usually 3 or 4 lines 

 long. Peduncles axillary, about the length of the petioles, bearing an umbel 

 of 2 to 6 small yellow flowers, on reflexed pedicels of 3 or 4 lines. Capsule 

 column-like, -? in. long or even more, with several seeds in each cell. 



On roadsides and in waste places. Champion and others. A common weed in all but the 

 colder regions of the globe. 



2. AVEBKHOA, Linn. 

 Stamens either all antheriferous or 5 small and without anthers. Pruit in- 

 dehiscent and succulent.— Trees. Leaves pinnate. Flowers in small axillary 

 panicles. 



A geniis of two species, common to both the New and the Old World within the tropics, 

 either mdigenous or natm-aUzed. 



, 1. A. Carambola, Unn.; BO. Prod. i. 689. A small tree. Leaves 

 alternate, glabrous or more frequently more or less pubescent. Leaflets 5 to 

 11, very obliquely ovate, acuminate, 1* to 2 in. long, of a pale or glaucous 

 colour on the under side, where they are usually more pubescent. Flowers 



